Surviving (or Not) on Minimum Wage

The country's lowest-paid workers will get raises today as the federal minimum wage increases 12 percent, or 70 cents, from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour. But that's still not enough to pay the bills, say some members of the working class, including many who already earn more than the minimum wage. Barbara Stepney, a 57-year-old grandmother in Baltimore, makes $7.15 an hour working in the laundry of a Comfort Inn. She says she can't afford health insurance, a car, or her own apartment. "I'm slowly... Full Story